Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 359: Ch.358 Magical Aberration

The theater seemed to be stuck in the last century, filled with the splendor of a bygone modern era—dark red velvet seats, frosted yellow semi-transparent lampshades. The brown and yellowish wood paneling of the interior walls bore signs of the passage of time.

Naturally, Su Ming and Diana, sneaking through the backstage area, faced more of the clutter and props strewn around, like a box for sawing someone in half, or a human cannon used to launch a magician for a grand act.

They were now hiding at the side of the stage, behind the curtains, without even a seat—just a small bag of popcorn to share.

Zatanna hadn't noticed their presence. She was on stage, smiling brightly, performing for the audience under the spotlight.

To her credit, her show was quite popular—the grand theater was filled to capacity, with everyone paying close attention to her.

This was partly because her father, Giovanni Zatara, had been a famous, top-tier magician, and people viewed Zatanna as the talented scion of a magician's family—someone who surpassed her mentor, constantly bringing forth fresh and exciting acts that amazed everyone.

Of course, there were other factors as well.

She was a stunning beauty—a magician in hot shorts and black fishnet stockings.

At that moment, Zatanna was truly dazzling on stage, smiling as she pulled a newspaper from her pocket, showing it to the audience. Then, she folded it and, as she unfolded it again, a whole flock of doves flew out.

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience. Despite being a simple trick, they gave her enthusiastic support.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Zatanna bowed to the audience, tossing the newspaper onto a nearby table.

Her father had taught her the art of performance. A magic show should begin with the familiar, classic tricks that the audience knew well. This was the rule of the performance—a kind of order.

Both she and her father, who were magicians by name but sorcerers in reality, showcased impossibilities that the audience could recognize as impossible.

The true magnificence and horror of magic, however, was beyond ordinary understanding.

Turning a newspaper into doves was a trick, a stage illusion with props. Those doves were hidden inside Zatanna's tuxedo lining.

Now that the opening act was over, it was time for Zatanna to use her backward speech magic.

"The next act is about my hat!"

Smiling, Zatanna took off her top hat, reached inside, and quietly whispered a spell backward: "esaelerba tibbar".

This was her backward speech magic—a power her father had passed down to her. As long as she spoke her wish backward and it wasn't beyond her mental capacity, it would come true.

Magic involves an equivalent exchange—this is common knowledge in the magical community of the Marvel Universe. In the DC world, however, only Constantine and a select few recognized this principle.

Many sorcerers recklessly squandered their magical energy, blind to the consequences of doing so.

Zatanna was among those who didn't fully understand, and now, she had to face the price of her spellcasting.

She acted like any other magician, loudly shouting the "spell"—it was all for show, and what she said didn't matter.

She pulled out a rabbit from her hat—but it wasn't the soft, snow-white bunny with cute red eyes that she had intended.

Instead, it was a bloody, lifeless rabbit, eyes frozen open in death.

"This..."

Suddenly, the top hat in her hand began emitting a bright purple light, and from it emerged an indescribable, terrifying thing like creeping vines.

It was a segmented tentacle, covered with eyes and mouths, all of which stared with a chilling gaze that made anyone who looked at them shiver in fear.

It seemed to be a part of some massive monster, surging from Zatanna's hat, growing and expanding endlessly.

"Clap, clap, clap..."

The audience erupted in even louder applause. This was something they'd never seen before. Ordinary magicians pulled rabbits from their hats, but Zatanna had summoned a never-ending vine.

Spectacular. Just spectacular.

Zatanna, however, didn't think so. She shouted towards the audience:

"Get out of here! This isn't part of the show! evael eseht tup ekil ruoy !"

She attempted to use her backward speech magic to evacuate the theater, but the magic twisted. The monster from her hat extended its many tentacles, grabbing audience members and tossing them around like rag dolls.

"Help!"

Screams filled the theater as people fled towards the exits.

"Oh my god... what should I do?"

As a magician, Zatanna had no combat power when her magic failed. She was visibly panicking.

"I guess this is why most magicians need an assistant!"

Diana pulled off her cloak, leaping out from the backstage area. With shield and sword in hand, she swung rapidly, slicing through several tentacles and saving some of the people.

Su Ming also helped rescue people. However, against this kind of creature, dual pistols were more efficient for severing tentacles.

The Stranglehold suit's disguise melted away, revealing his black-and-yellow armor beneath. The sight of him instilled fear, causing people to run even faster instead of showing any gratitude.

To them, Stranglehold was even scarier than the unknown vine monster.

With two powerful warriors working together, they managed to rescue the audience quickly. Yet the source of the problem remained—the monster continued to emerge from Zatanna's hat.

It was as if someone had dumped a whole load of Mentos into a giant vat of cola, with the frothy foam spewing out, only to solidify into living tentacles upon contact with the air, emanating an eerie magical glow.

"nrub!"

Zatanna tried to cast a fire spell, but it only gave the tentacle monster the ability to shoot fire in turn.

"Okay, you'd better keep your mouth shut."

Su Ming shook his head, pulling her away from the incoming fireball. In such a situation, the magician had become a liability. It was best if she just stayed safe and didn't attempt any more spells.

If the monster was emerging from the hat, like vine-like tentacles, then the root must be that hat. Perhaps there was some kind of portal to another dimension inside.

Su Ming wasn't too knowledgeable about sorcerers, but he knew that if he severed the root of the problem, the issue would be resolved.

"Godslayer! Lengthen!"

With a mental command, the Godslayer seemed to grow like a gust of wind, transforming instantly into a ten-meter-long blade—a blade that looked very much like a butcher knife.

He had no time to worry about aesthetics now. Swinging the weapon, he aimed a powerful thrust towards the distant top hat.

The hat was impaled, but the monster kept emerging—even faster now. The entire stage was covered in strange tissues, in addition to sword marks and bullet holes.

"Bring it here!"

Su Ming thought for a moment and immediately knew what to do.

With the Godslayer, he hooked the hat, lifting it like a tree rooted in a flowerpot and brought it back to him.